April 2005 PRESS
The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle
Coming Out Electric
Atomic Swindlers
Review by Chris Mitchell - Spike Magazine - www.spikemagazine.com
Music is the best mood-alterer we have. Put on
a record and you can find yourself grinning involuntarily
a few moments later; conversely, stand in an elevator
for more than a few seconds involuntarily listening
to crackly saxophone-driven muzak that manages
to hit
that precise treble frequency which is the sonic
equivalent of toothache, and you can feel suicidal.
Either way, music has a profound ability to make
us feel altered.
A key part of that is a sense
of otherworldliness, the way music can move
you - move as in transport you, not as in make
you all teary-eyed, although that's good too.
Otherworldliness is something which has got lost
in the JLo video vacumn, where life is an endless
procession of cherographed pretty vacuity and
bragging about the amassing of consumer durables.
Step up, then, the sublimely named Atomic Swindlers
who are ready to catapult you into another world
far, far away from the soulless confines of corporate
pop. With the updated Barbarella schtick of
front woman April Laragy and tracks like "Intergalactic
Lesbian Love Song", it's clear that the
Swindlers are heading for another time and space.
Whilst Atomic Swindlers appear archly futurecartoonish
in presentation - reinforced by the truly
beautiful animated video that accompanied their
debut single "Float
(My Electric Stargirl)" - musically they
have a surprising amount of depth. If you can
summon up the exuberance of glam-era Bowie topped
off with Ms Leragy's self-assured Blondie meets
Ziggy vocals, you get the idea.
There's some
great guitar fellatio moments - Sex66
is the standout rock-out track here, oozing come-hither-ifyou-dare
arrogance, while "Diamond Dreamer" unashamedly
kicks off with the riff from "Hang On To
Yourself" and the glorious "Intergalactic
Lesbian Love Song" tells a story with a
twist Nick Cave would be proud of. For all the
guitars though, Atomic Swindlers are remarkably
restrained on many of their songs - there are
some quite beautiful quieter tracks here.
The
aforementioned debut single "Float" is
a case in
point, an ethereal bittersweet lovesong
that effortlessly conjures up the atmosphere
of the Swinders' future world. "Drag"'s anthemic
chorus belies the intimacy of its yearning lyrics,
whilst "Underground
Love" describes the uncertain beginnings
of new passion. April Laragy's evocative voice
is given plenty of room to hold entire tracks
together, and this can only be a good thing
- it particularly comes out on Wonderlove, which
sounds like a retake of Bowie's "Drive
In Saturday".
Indeed,there is not so much
a debt owed here to David Bowie as
an unrepayable contract with a loan shark: the
ghosts of Ziggy and Aladdin Sane flit from track
to track on Coming Out Electric - Christ, on some
songs it sounds like Bowie is doing the backing
vocals himself, Transformer style. You may think
this is a criticism, but you'd be dead wrong.
If you're going to plunder someone's back catalogue,
you might as well remake and remodel
new music from the remnants of the 20th century's
most consistently innovative artist. And, crucially,
Atomic Swindlers walk the fine line
between mere pastiche and musical progress with
aplomb. Here they've produced a great debut album
that unashamedly wears its influences on its sleeve
but shapes them for the most part
into something new. This is indeed a great rock'n'roll
swindle.
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